The Haunted Mansion
by Heart Goat
Summary: Yugi and friends spend the night at a haunted house, and they'll win several million dollars if they survive. Is the house really haunted or is one of Yugi's friends up to no good? ~*finished*~
1. The Mansion

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Ryou slowly walked through the moonlit forest, with every step followed by the soft crunch of the snow covered ground. His ivory hair seemed to melt into his environment as white powder gently cascaded around him. As he breathed, icy puffs escaped his mouth.  
  
At long last, he reached his destination. Standing in the distance an ancient fortress loomed above him, light illuminating from the window, calling him nearer, drawing him from the darkness. He stopped abruptly, scanning the castle with a thoughtful look in his eyes.  
  
"So this is it," he whispered under his breath. Stained glass windows lined the sides of the building, casting rainbow auras on the ground around it. The inside was hollow, with a courtyard in the center. On the roof stood four towers, one on each corner. The wooden front door stood at least 15 feet high and decayed from old age. Ryou pulled his fuzzy blue sweater closer and continued on his way.  
  
Upon reaching the door, he knocked three times and waited patiently for a response. Almost immediately, the door creaked open, and before him stood Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan. With a smile Ryou quickly entered the building, glad to get out of the cold.  
  
"I'm sorry I'm late, you guys," Ryou spurted, "You see."  
  
"You don't need to make an excuse," assured Joey with a smile, "Most of us just got here. Anyways, now that we're all here, let's all go to the living room and I'll tell ya'll why I invited ya'll here. C'mon!"  
  
Following Joey, the five friends entered a large living room with a couple of musty chairs and couches surrounding a table in the middle. Towards the back of the room was a stone fireplace filled with several charred tree branches. Two bookcases stood on either side of the fireplace filled from top to bottom with old encyclopedia-looking books. The friends sat on the couches around the table, waiting for an explaination from Joey.  
  
"Now," Joey began, with a broad smirk across his face, " The reason I called ya' guys here is~"  
  
"It better be a good excuse or else!" yelled Tea.  
  
"Tea, just shutup and listen to him," retorted Yugi.  
  
"Thanks Yug'. Now, I called ya'll here cause supposedley this place is haunted."  
  
'Haunted?" remarked Tea, "That's it, I'm leaving." Tea began marching furiously out the room, then stopped as Joey called back.  
  
"Forget about it!" Joey said in his New York accent, "I was going to give money to whoever would've stayed, but if you're leavin' then that means all the more money for me. Heh!" Joey smirked as he saw Tea's sudden interest light up on her face as he mentioned the word 'money'.  
  
"Really?" she smirked back, " How much?"  
  
"Well...I have a total of 2 million bucks per each one of ya'."  
  
"What!?" everyone jumped and shock filled their faces.  
  
"B-but," stuttered Tristan, "How'd you get all that money? I mean, no offense or anything but you're kind of, well ummm...poor."  
  
"Well I used to be. But Kaiba said he'd gimme 8 million for free! Of course he did say somethin' about loans and interest and some weird stuff like that that I don't really understand, but this kinda' proves that Kaiba isn't such a bad guy after all."  
  
Sweatdrops appeared on everyone's heads, but they decided to not explain anything to Joey, as they were afraid to spoil their good moods.  
  
"Sooo anyway, Joey," spoke up Bakura, "What's the story behind this house anyway?"  
  
"Ahhh, so ya' wanna' know the story, huh?" Joey said with a cheshire cat- like grin, "Well first off, I have ta' say somethin' to you."  
  
"Alright, what is it?" Bakura asked, a little reluctantly.  
  
"You remind me of the bat."  
  
"What bat?"  
  
"The bat with the power."  
  
"What power?"  
  
"Power of voodoo!"  
  
"Who do?"  
  
"You do."  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Remind me of the bat!"  
  
"Ummm...ok."  
  
Joey laughed, but the only response he got from his companions was their pitiful sighs.  
  
"Okay, okay, so it's not that funny. But anyways~" Joey cleared his throat, "So ya' wanna hear the story, huh?" They all nodded. "Weeell this is how it goes."  
  
~*The Story*~  
  
The vibrant sun lit up the morning sky with a vibrant caramel aura. A field of emerald grass stretched around a large mansion decorated with an array of white balloons and confetti. The sun's rays caused the chapel- like mansion's stained glass windows to throw vivid rainbows around it. A small group of people were dressed in elegant dresses and tuxedos took pictures of a bride and groom and discussed random...stuff.  
  
"Nami," announced the husband, looking directly into her intense azure eyes as she looked back.  
  
"Yes, Luffy?"  
  
(AN: Mweeheehee! It's Nami and Luffy from 'One Piece'. But they aren't going to be the ghosts haunting the mansion because most people who read this ficcy don't even know who they are and this isn't really supposed to be a crossover.)  
  
"Ummm...I think it's raining."  
  
Nami and several others looked confusedly up to the sky, only to see that it continued to be filled with the luscious blue and golden mixture that had continued to fill the sky the entire day. Everyone looked back at Luffy, waiting for an explaination.  
  
"You're making yourself look like an idiot," Nami admitted, scratching her short orange hair.  
  
A sudden boom echoed from the sky and a flash of serpentine lightning struck the earth followed by a rush of pouring rain. Many screams resounded throughout the fields as everyone was soaked and they rushed into the house. As the final wedding guest ran into the house, the large wooden door was slammed behind them.  
  
"Oookay, well we'd better dry ourselves off now I guess," said Luffy thoughtfully.  
  
"That makes sense," someone from the small crowd said sarcastically.  
  
"Well if you ask me~" Nami's sentence was cut off by a sudden explosion of thunder. With a sudden flicker of lights, the power in the house was abruptly turned off. The small crowd yelped several times, then was quieted by Luffy's constant yelling at the top of his lungs.  
  
"AAAAHHHH!!!," Luffy screamed, "AAHHHH!!! AAHHHH!!! AAHHHH~"  
  
"SHUTUP!" everyone, including Nami demanded.  
  
"Everyone, what we need to do is find some flashlights and lanterns," announced Nami.  
  
"Alright," agreed someone to her right, "Let's split up and search for them."  
  
Everyone agreed and set out in different directions to look for lights. They all died a different death each, and none of them were even seen again (AN: Sorry, but I don't really feel like going into this story any further since I want to have this typed up by today).  
  
The End  
  
~*Back to the real story*~  
  
"The end," Joey said with a malicious-looking grin. 


	2. The Skeptics

Hee! Thankies for everyone who reviewed my first chappy (I didn't think I'd get any reviews). *throws chibi Ryou plushies to reviewers* Enjoy! ^.^ Anyways, when I uploaded the fanficcy, it apparently didn't say everything I typed up (there would have been more of chappy 1, but something...happened) -_-, so I've been having to type up quite a bit since then and some of it's in this chappy. *sigh* Oh well, I don't really mind that much, it's just a little more frustrating and takes a little more work on my part. Well anyways, other than that, there's not much else to say. Sooo, here's the next chappy...  
  
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"Well? Well?" Joey urged a response from his friends, "How'd ya' like it?"  
  
"You just made that up as you were going along, didn't you?" commented Tea.  
  
"Hey, ya' keep makin' comments like that and the ghosts'll make sure you're the first to go. Right, guys?"  
  
The others looked down at the floor in shame, hopeing not to upset Joey.  
  
"Aw, c'mon! Don't tell me you're all skeptics."  
  
"No, Joey, it's not that," Yugi assured, "It's just that...uh..."  
  
"Just that what?"  
  
"Forget it."  
  
"Guys," spoke up Bakura, "I do sense something wrong here. Maybe it's nothing, but we'd best be on our guard."  
  
"Hah!" laughed Joey, "At least someone believes me.  
  
Joey stood up abruptly and signaled for the rest to follow him into the large dining room. Once entering it, displayed on the long oak table was an exquisite array of many kinds of food. The friends all rushed to the table in eagerness and served themselves large portions of meals without saying a word. By far, Joey had served himself the largest amount of dinner out of the others.  
  
"Mmmm," said Joey as he licked his lips with anticipation. Taking huge bites of steak and pork, the others watched in astoundment as Joey hastily consumed his food in a matter of seconds. Noticing their curious faces, Joey questioned them, "What? What's wrong?" A small amount of drool dribbled down his chin and onto the table, while his friends shuddered in disgust.  
  
"Joey," said Yugi, "It just seems a bit rude to be eating so fast like you are. Could you maybe not..."  
  
"Could you not act like such a pig?" finished Tristan.  
  
"Hey, you know~"  
  
"Wait," interrupted Tea, "Who put all this food here anyways?"  
  
"Maybe it was the ghosts," suggested Joey as he wolfed down another large bite of steak.  
  
"Joey, you set up this whole thing. It was probably you," said Bakura. He took small nibbles of his sweet potatoes as he waited for an answer.  
  
"Yeah," noted Tristan, "Joey put the food on the table."  
  
"Who, me?" asked Joey.  
  
"Yes, you."  
  
"Couldn't be!"  
  
"Then who?"  
  
"Yugi put the food on the table," smirked Joey, putting his attention to Yugi.  
  
"Who me?" a sweatdrop fell on the back of Yugi's head.  
  
"Yes, you."  
  
"Couldn't be!"  
  
"Then who?"  
  
"Tea put the food on the table," smiled Yugi as he looked at Tea.  
  
"I am NOT going to play this with you guys," Tea told them.  
  
"Ok, ok," said Joey with a hint of dismay, "Anyways, that~"  
  
Joey was interrupted by a clash of glass in the direction of the kitchen. Joey stood up and peered into a door to the far right side of the dining room. The sound stopped, but a frightened expression remained on Joey's face.  
  
"Whoa!" the blonde exclaimed as he looked back at his friends, "What was that?"  
  
"Tch," Tea said with a sigh, "That was probably nothing..." She found it impossible to think of any excuses, though.  
  
Without warning, the chandelier above them began flickering on and off, and suddenly turn off alltogether. The room was filled with only the shrieks and screams of the terrified teenagers.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Okies, that was all for this chappy. I know it's kind of short, but I felt like putting another chappy up today. Well I hope you liked it, so please review! I'll try to make to next chappy a bit longer and I'll give out chibi Jonouchi (Joey) plushies to everyone who reviews this time around. Atonohou! -^___^- 


	3. The First Victim

Hi there!^^ The updates may take a little longer now since I have another fanficcy going on, but I'll still try updating as often as I can. I also have finals coming up, meaning I'll be spending more time studying and less time writing ficcys (or at least trying to ^^'). But I tried to make this chappy a little long so no one would be too disappointed. And here's your chibi Joey plushies I promised! *throws chibi Joey plushies at reviewers*  
  
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"Please stop screaming!" Yugi yelled over his friend's yells, "This isn't helping. The power went out, that's all." The screams ended abruptly. "We'll find some flashlights and everything'll be fine."  
  
"That's just what Nami said to Luffy and the others," reminded Joey, his voice shaking, "And what happened to them? They died."  
  
"Oh, please," Tea sighed, "You just made all that up, none of its true. Yugi's right. We have to split up and look for a source of light."  
  
"Well I'm not goin'!"  
  
"I think they're right," Ryou calmly agreed, "We can't just stand around and do nothing."  
  
"Fine!" groaned Joey, "Tristan, what do you think?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Tristan? Tristan, are you there?" Joey repeated.  
  
The silence again answered him.  
  
"Oh my gosh," Tea exclaimed, "Tristan's gone! We have to~"  
  
Without warning, the lights flickered back on and the teens breathed sighs of relief. Looking around the room, none of them could see Tristan anywhere in sight.  
  
"T-This is really bad!" Tea stuttered.  
  
"We have to go look for him," Yugi decided, "He could be in trouble. I don't want anything bad happening to our friend. You guys agree, don't you?"  
  
"Of course we do!" Joey nodded his head in agreement. "We'll go looking for him just as soon as we finish eating ^o^."  
  
"Joey, stop being such a big boar and come with us to search for Tristan- NOW!" Tea ordered, taking Joey by the wrist.  
  
"Okay, okay," Joey gave in, "I get the point. I'm comin'." Joey wrenched he hand away from Tea and began following Yugi back into the hallway.  
  
"Tristan!" Yugi's voice bounced off the walls of the hall. He walked impatiently through the hallway, straining his ears for a response. There was no answer. "Where do you think we should look?"  
  
"I dunno', Yug'," pondered Joey, "There's over fifty rooms in this mansion, and if he's in trouble there's no way we're gonna' find him."  
  
"I hate to say it," Tea said in regret, "But Joey's right. We can't just go looking all over the place for Tristan. We'll just have to wait for him to come back, ok?"  
  
Yugi's brow furrowed in frustration and he looked up at Tea, then Joey.  
  
"I guess you two are right..."  
  
"In the meantime, let's just stay in the living room and hang out there," suggested Joey.  
  
Ryou, Tea and Yugi nodded and make their way to the living room.  
  
~*An Hour Later*~  
  
"Do you have any Feral Imps?"  
  
"Go fish."  
  
Tea, Ryou and Joey sat around a round wooden table playing 'Go Fish' with duel monster cards. In a shadowed corner of the room, Yugi curled against the wall, shutting out the voices of the others. He eyes, filled with pools of confusion and distress, looked toward the floor as thoughts raced through his mind. Would he be able to find Tristan? Was everyone else going to be safe? What was going on that was causing all these strange events to happen? It couldn't really be ghosts, could it...?  
  
/Yami, can you hear me?/  
  
//What's wrong?//  
  
/I'm worried. Tristan's gone and I'm afraid of losing any more friends/  
  
//Ummm...well this doesn't really have anything to do with dueling, so I don't really know what to say. But make sure you stay close to your friends and don't let them out of sight, alright?//  
  
/Of course/  
  
"Hey Yug'!" announced Joey, breaking Yugi's thoughts, "Wanna' play with us?"  
  
"Oh, sure," Yugi smiled to hide his inner feelings of anguish.  
  
Sitting himself next to Joey, he banished his thoughts from his mind, and allowed himself to enjoy his time with his friends for a while. Joey shuffled the cards and handed out a couple to everyone.  
  
"Do you have any Dark Magicians?" Yugi asked Tea.  
  
"YOU CHEATER!" yelled Tea in an uncontrollable rage. She threw down her cards and stood up, looming above the startled Yugi. "You knew I had a Dark Magician, you ugly little piece of shit!"  
  
"Whoa, whoa," Joey attempted to calm Tea down, "It was just a lucky guess, that's all. Now relax and give Yugi the card."  
  
Tea puffed her cheeks out in annoyance and, sitting back down, handed Yugi the Dark Magician. With a sigh of relief, Yugi set down his two DM pairs and secretly tapped into the shadow realm.  
  
/Yami, can you hear me?/  
  
//Yes. That was a close one. She almost found out you were using me to help you win.//  
  
/Well, we've got to be a little more careful. Now, what cards does Ryou have?/  
  
//He's got a Mystical Elf you could use//  
  
/Thanks/  
  
"Ryou," Yugi said, looking at his white-haired friend, "Do you have any Mystical Elfs?"  
  
A sweatdrop passed over the back of Ryou's head as he also tapped into the shadow realm to his Yami.  
  
/Bakura! What should I say?/  
  
//Lie, of course. You have to show Yugi that you're better than him in every single possible way. And that includes beating him at 'Go Fish'.//  
  
/Alright, I will/  
  
"Go fish," said Ryou.  
  
"Hey, you're lying!" accused Yugi.  
  
"H-how did you know?"  
  
"Because I've been using my Yam~Um, I mean..."  
  
"A hah! You're the one who's been cheating, Yugi!"  
  
"So did you." Yugi grabbed Ryou's cards out of his hands and revealed them to the others. An aroused expression spread across both Tea and Joey's faces.  
  
"Wow," murmured Joey, "I'm surprised you two would cheat."  
  
"I know," conceded Tea, "If anyone would cheat here, it'd be Joey."  
  
"Hey!" retorted Joey, receiving a snicker from Tea.  
  
An abrupt yawn came from Yugi. He looked over at the old grandfather clock. 11:09.  
  
"I'm getting really tired," Yugi told his friends, breaking the tension, "It's getting pretty late. Shouldn't we be getting to bed soon?"  
  
"He's right," Joey said. He also let out a yawn, agreeing with Yugi.  
  
"Where's our rooms?" asked Tea to Joey.  
  
"Second floor," Joey told them, "I'll show you guys to your rooms now if ya' want now."  
  
The friends left the living room, taking their cards with them, and walked up the seemingly never-ending spiral staircase to the next floor. The stairs breathed continuous creaks and groans as they walked up the flight of steps. Yugi was sure that he could hear faint eerie scratching sounds from within the walls. Or was it his imagination?  
  
After reaching the second floor, Joey showed Tea to her room first, then Bakura, and lastly Yugi.  
  
"Joey," Yugi said as he and Joey stood in front of Yugi's door, "How do you know where the rooms are located? I mean, you couldn't have explored this place all by yourself before."  
  
"Oh," Joey thought a few moments before answering, "I did some research and found a floor plan of this place. I know where almost everything is." Joey reached into his pocket and took a small blueprint of the mansion. "See?"  
  
"Ah! Alright, I was just curious...well I'll see you in the morning then, I guess."  
  
"Maybe." Joey grinned slyly making Yugi chuckle nervously.  
  
"Alright, goodnight then."  
  
"Night. I'll be in the living room if ya' need me," he called behind his back as he walked down the stairs.  
  
Before Yugi could open the falling apart door, it swung open with a slight moan. He peered inside curiously, after turning on the light. The room was almost bare, only containing a musty bed with sheets dirty with lint and dust, and an open empty closet stood at the far end of the room. The wallpaper had turned an ugly shade of grayish yellow and was peeling off at the ends. A door next to the closet led to another room, most likely a bathroom.  
  
"I really wish I would have brought a sleeping bag," Yugi sighed regretfully sighing as he sat on the old bed. "Well I'm really too tired to care much."   
  
He flopped down on the bed and prepared to get some rest. A red glint on the floor to his right caught his attention and he immediately sprang up. Several small pools of red liquid led to the closed bathroom door. Yugi's heart began racing as he wondered what to do.  
  
"Ah!?" Yugi exclaimed, "It's blood."  
  
Yugi stood up and reached for the door handle, his heart racing faster with every inch closer he got. His shaking hand clasped on the door handle and at once, he flung the door open. His face filled with horror at the sight he saw before him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
That's all for this chappy which ends with another cliffhanger. I already have some sort of an idea of what to do with the next chappy, and if I have time, I might actually have it up by Sunday if I have nothing else to do. Sooo...next time I'll be giving away chibi Yami plushies to everyone who reviews. Well, that's all for now! Atonohou! -^___^- 


	4. The Killer

Thankies for all the reviews.^^ *throws chibi Yami plushies at reviewers* Enjoy!^^ I'll probably post another chappy this weekend if I get a chance, so look out for a chappy 5 soon, too. Anyways, here's the next chappy.  
  
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Yugi tried taking a step back, but found it impossible, he was frozen with a wave of panic. Before him stood Tristan-nude and showering. Ewww! Tristan appeared not to take notice Yugi at first, then as the purple-eyed boy coughed loudly, Tristan caught sight of him.  
  
"Yugi!" the startled brunnette gasped in surprise, "W-what are you doing here?"  
  
Yugi stood for a moment before stuttering, "Well, Tristan, this is my room..." His voice trailed off as he looked up and down Tristan with great interest. "-But wait! What's the blood on the floor coming from?" Yugi pointed to the red liquid on the floor.  
  
Tristan let out an amused chuckle. "Oh, that? Those are just ketchup stains from my hamburger." Tristan reached to the bottom of the tub and extracted a very soggy hamburger, displaying it to Yugi.  
  
"But why would you be eating a hamburger in the shower?" Yugi asked with a curious gleam in his eyes.  
  
"...I was hungry! And dirty. So I couldn't decided whether to eat with you guys or take a shower, so I decided to eat and take a shower at the same time."  
  
"I see. Well we've all been very worried about, so let's take you to see Tea, Bakura and Joey."  
  
"Can I get dressed first?" Tristan asked solemnly.  
  
"Oh, uh, yeah, sorry!^^'"  
Tristan and Yugi knocked on Bakura's door, and almost immediately, it opened. Bakura appeared almost as surprised to see Tristan as Yugi was.  
  
"Tristan!" Bakura exclaimed, taking a step forward, "You're okay. I'm so relieved."  
  
"Yeah, I just got hungry and wanted to take a shower," Tristan explained with his hand behind his head.  
  
"Okay, that's just weird." The voice came from behind the three, belonging to no other than Joey.  
  
"Buddy!" Tristan smiled with glee.  
  
"You freaked us all out, ya' know. Don't just go around disappearin' like that anymore. You made me miss the rest of my meal!" Joey joked.  
  
"Okay, okay, sorry."  
  
"Well let's just go see Tea now, she's worried too," Yugi interrupted, and they made their way to Tea's room.  
  
Yugi knocked loudly on Tea's door, in case she was asleep. No answer came and Yugi knocked again, this time louder. Still silence.  
  
"Should we open the door?" Yugi asked the others.  
  
"Of course!" Joey confirmed.  
  
Joey swung the door open, only to find that there was no Tea-no alive Tea, that is. At the other side of the room, a figure swung limply in the air, with a rope bound around it's neck. It had a horribly misshapen body, from the many times it had been cut, but the members could still make out the person to be Tea.  
  
"YES!" hissed Joey in joviality. The others stared back at him in shock. "U-uh, I mean, noooo!" Joey feigned tears as the others simply stared in shock at their dead friend.  
  
"How?" Yugi uttered.  
  
"Look, there's a note," Tristan pointed out a small black piece of paper scribbled with white ink next to her body. Tristan walked over to the note, grabbed it, and quickly retreated away from the corpse. He read the note aloud to the others:  
  
'Tea sucks.'  
  
~Kaiba  
  
"Oookay," said Tristan, "Well apparently it was Kaiba who killed her."  
  
The group looked at eachother questioningly.  
  
"Kaiba wasn't here, so how could he have killed her?" Yugi asked Tristan.  
  
"Maybe Kaiba didn't kill her," Joey suggested with another sly grin with his hand caressing his chin, "Maybe it was the ghosts and they're trying to frame Kaiba just so they can get away with it."  
  
The others sighed, knowing they should've known what Joey's explanation would be.  
  
"First off," started Yugi with a frown, "There are no ghosts here..." He paused for a moment, thinking about the sounds he heard within the walls and the lights going off, then continued, "Second, even if there were ghosts, they wouldn't know who Kaiba is."  
  
"Fine, then!" Joey said offensively, "Are you suggesting it was one of us?"  
  
The thought shocked everyone. That was the only reasonable explaination, that one of them was a killer. They took suspicious glances at eachother before Bakura spoke up.  
  
"It couldn't have been one of us," Bakura told them with reassurance, "None of us would want Tea to~" Bakura cut himself off as the same thought processed through everyone's head. The instant Joey had seen Tea dead he had rejoiced.  
  
"Joey," Tristan gasped, "It was you!"  
  
"W-what!?" Joey took a nervous step back, feeling the intensity of his friend's accusing stares, "I might not like Tea, but I wouldn't want~"  
  
"Liar!" Tristan shot back, pointing a finger at Joey, "You're the one who invited us all here, you're the one who knows where all the rooms are, and you're the one who was glad to see Tea dead. You're the only possible killer, Joey."  
  
"I swear it wasn't me!" Joey took another step back and gulped hard. They're right, he thought, There's more than enough proof to have reason to blame me...I've just got to play it cool and convince them it wasn't me.  
  
Tristan reached out to grab Joey as Yugi and Bakura made an effort to hold him back. He stopped as they heard the sudden sound of footsteps.  
  
"Do you guys hear that?" Yugi whispered as the others froze, "Someone's coming up the stairs."  
  
"Hah!" Joey laughed, "I told ya' it wasn't me."  
  
"Quiet!" Tristan hushed him.  
  
The footsteps stopped and a dark shadow entered the far end of the hallway. Frozen with fear, the four friends were unable to do anything but to stand and watch. As the figure came nearer, they could finally make it out. It was Kaiba, grinning with malice-and in his right hand he held a butcher's knife eclipsed in blood.  
  
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Whoa. That was an interesting ending...Alrighty, that's all for this chappy. I don't personally hate Tea, but I got a request for her death and she wasn't going to really play an important role in this story anyway, so I just got rid of her. I know it's a little short, but oh well. I'll be giving away chibi Paul Muad'Dib(from Dune) and Malik plushies next to reviewers, so review if you get a chance.^^ Atonohou! -^___^- 


	5. The Explaination

I'm typing this at 3:56 AM, the only time I'll have this week to type up another chappy (due to finals). I'm not actually allowed on the computer right now since I'm supposed to spend every waking hour studying, but my parents don't know I'm on the computer right now, so it's okies.^^' This chappy'll be really short since I don't want them to catch me and I'll be in a ton of trouble if they do. So anyways, enjoy. *throws chibi Paul Mua'Dib and Malik plushies to reviewers*  
  
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A maniacal expression filled Seto's face as he slowly approached Joey, Tristan, Bakura and Yugi, savoring every second of seeing the fear mounted on their faces. As he stood only a foot away from the group he let out an echoeing sinister laughter, piercing the silence like a blade.  
  
"W-what do ya' want?" Joey stuttered, managing to take a step back.  
  
"What do I want?" mocked Seto, "I waaant it that way/Am I your fire?/The one desired?/Yes, I know it's too late/but I want it that way..."  
  
"Um, Seto?" Yugi said, "Why are you singing a Backstreet Boys song?"  
  
"Yugi," Seto leaned closer to the lavender-eyed boy, "Don't you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"  
  
"Not really."  
  
"Oh ho ho!" laughed Tristan, "I know what he's trying to tell you." Tristan looked at Seto. "Thumbs up, man, thumbs up!"  
  
"Ahem!" Seto cleared his throat, "What I'm trying to tell you is that you're a big boar and I hope you burn in hell."  
  
"Oh, that's it?" Tristan was confused, "I thought it was something else...nevermind."  
  
A taller greener meaner figure emerged from behind Seto and stood beside him. Putting his arm around Seto's shoulder, he appeared to be none other than the Grinch himself.  
  
"Somebody must stop this Christmas before it get's out of hand," he announced to everyone.  
  
"But Christmas is just right around the bend," pouted Seto, "Being the spoiled egotistical hot brat I am, I want Christmas presents. And I still haven't seen Santa this year yet."  
  
"Did somebody say 'Santa?" a gruff voice came from behind Seto, and he spun around to see Santa Clause.  
  
"Santa!" Seto exclaimed.  
  
"Seto!" Santa smiled back.  
  
"Santa!"  
  
"Seto!"  
  
"Santa!"  
  
"Shonen Jump!" smiled Kazuki Takahashi.  
  
The characters all gasped and the Grinch and Santa disappeared. The creator of Yu-gi-oh! was standing in front of them all.  
  
"Good evening folks!" said Takahashi with glee, "Might I interest you in a pair of poodles?" Holding out both his hands, he revealed a pair of two pink poodles.  
  
"I'll take them! I'll take them!" Bakura offered.  
  
"Thankyou and have a good life, my lovely creations." And with a pink poof, Takahashi vanished.  
  
"Oh baby baby," sang Mr.Newhall (AN:teacher/principle-person at my school) , "How was I supposed to knoooow..." Suddenly he turned into a ladybug and flew to the moon and was never seen again.  
  
"I believe that all persona in the US of A should be treated fairly," announced George Bush, "By being lied to and cheated on by people like me. Perhaps you will join me in my fight to kill innocent Iraqis for our fun and enjoyment just to get me public attention." Then George Bush had a seizure and died.  
  
"YAAAY!" everyone rejoiced.  
  
And everything went back to normal.  
  
"So," said Seto, getting their attention back, "Who wants to be next to die?"  
  
"I do! I do!" shouted Tristan, raising his hand.  
  
"Dumbass," muttered Joey.  
  
"Oookay, well that's not how it's going to work out," said Seto, "You see, the next one to go will be Yugi." Seto snickered before continuing. "I've wanted revenge on you for so long, Yugi, and now I'll finally get it."  
  
Yugi gulped and asked, "So you're the one behind all this?"  
  
"Me?" Seto laughed, "No, my dear Yugi, not me. The one behind all this is..." Seto hestitated and looked at Joey like a lower life form. "Is Joey."  
  
Joey looked at the ground in shame, then at Yugi. "It's true."  
  
"But why?" Bakura asked.  
  
"Why? Because for my entire time bein' with you guys, I've been treated like the reject, the scapegoat. Tea was worse than all of you. That's why..." Joey's voice trailed off.  
  
"What!?" Yugi gasped, "I didn't do anything! The only two people who are jerks around here are Tea, who's dead, and Tristan."  
  
"That's true," agreed Joey, still frowning, "But now that you know who the murderer is, I can't let you go around tellin' other people about this incident. So I'm afraid everyone but Kaibas gonna' have ta' go."  
  
"Yes!" hissed Seto.  
  
"But why was Kaiba approaching us with a knife?" asked Yugi, "And you said yourself that he gave you money to give to the survivors of the house."  
  
"Well, duh! He's just more eager to see you all dead than I am, so of course he helped me out," Joey explained flatly. Then, reaching into his back pocket of his jeans, he extracted a small dagger. "Well I can't waste anymore time talkin' to you anymore. It's time that I've gotten rid of you once and for all."  
  
At with that, he lunged toward Yugi like lightning, thrusting his blade deeply into the golden-haired boy's chest. And in an instant, eternal darkness enveloped him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Okie dokie! All finished with my next chappy. It's 1:51 in the afternoon right now, since I had to get off the computer before my parents found out I was using it.^^' Well, this was a pretty interesting chappy-the Grinch, Santa and Takehashi-san. Hmmm...blame it on the pound of sugar I ate before typing this up. Anyways, chibi Seto plushies will be given out next time to reviewers so please review!  
  
Atonohou! -^___^- 


	6. The Sacrifice

Sorry for the lack of update, but I've been busy typing up fictions at fictionpress. If you you're a member there, please look me up. My name is Fallen Kitsune there.^^ Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chappy. There's a bit of humor in this one too. Also, enjoy your plushies if you reviewed. *throws chibi Seto plushies at reviewers*(I'm running out of characters to give away^^') ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~   
  
The obscurity seemed endless, ecplised in blackness. His hands reached out to the nothingness to guide himself, but there was nowhere to go. He didn't know how long he had been running-it had felt like hours, days maybe. At last, he fell to his knees in defeat and closed his eyes, only to reveal more darkness.  
  
"Yugi," a faint voice called to him in the darkness, he opened his eyes, looking around. "Yugi," the voice repeated itself and now he stood up.  
  
"Where am I?" he demanded.   
  
Only the silence answered.  
  
In seconds, a sudden wave of pain washed over him and he fell back into reality. White light poured around him and he slowly opened his eyes, becoming tediously adjusted to the brightness. He felt a heavenly softness beneath him, he was lying on a bed. His head turned to the left of him, he was in a room decorated with flowery wallpaper, a pink drawer and desk and an old victorian-style doll house sitting a small corner covered by thick layers of spider webs. Directly next to him sat Bakura in a small pink chair with a look of deep concern spread across his face.  
  
"Yugi," Bakura said in a voice mixed with relief and distress, "You're awake. You've been asleep for the past two hours. Joey..."  
  
Yugi recollected the events that had happened before he had black out. Kaiba with his knife, Joey's confession, and his attack on Yugi. Yugi grasped his chest in pain and felt a warm cover his hand. Looking down, he saw his wound had been bleeding through the white bandage that had been tightly wrapped around it.  
  
"Where's Tristan?" Yugi's voice was strained.  
  
"Right here," Tristan's familiar voice came from Yugi's right, Yugi turned around and smiled at the sight of him.  
  
"What happened?" Yugi asked.  
  
"We managed to get away from Kaiba and Joey somehow," Tristan explained, "We ran away and locked ourselves up in this room. Joey and Kaiba should be waiting for us out in the hall to come out. So we're stuck in here for a while...at least until they leave." Tristan let out a sigh. "I still can't believe Joey would just leave us like that. And attempt to murder us."  
  
"Well," announced Bakura, "We can't really do anything now but wait."  
  
There was silence for a few seconds. "We're going to die here, aren't we?" Yugi looked up at the ceiling, his eyes swelling with tears.  
  
The two looked at Yugi with curiousity and surprise.  
  
"Yugi," Bakura said in an unfamiliar tone, "That's...that's not like you."  
  
"He's right," agreed Tristan, "You're always looking on the bright side, and now you're saying that we're not going to be able to get out of this place alive." A sudden anger filled his words. "You're not going to talk to us like that! You have to believe in us, believe that we'll survive. Sure, it looks hopeless, but you have to believe in yourself and your friends. Ok?"  
  
Yugi smiled. "But~"  
  
"No 'buts'! Understand?"  
  
"Ok," Yugi nodded, smiled, "I will."  
  
Bakura and Tristan gave Yugi approved nods.  
  
"So how will we get out of here?" asked Bakura.  
  
"Hmmm..." Yugi looked behind Tristan, seeing a window. "Maybe we could get out that window somehow."  
  
Tristan and Bakura directed their attention to the window.  
  
"Maybe," said Tristan thoughtfully, "But we'll need something to open the window. Like a crowbar, maybe. But I don't see anything like that lying around..."  
  
"Why don't we just unlock the window?" suggested Bakura.  
  
"Good idea, why didn't I think of that?" Tristan said.  
  
Bakura and Tristan got up from their seat and walked toward the window. Yugi leaned up, attempting to follow them, but fell back down, holding his chest in agony and letting out a small groan. Bakura and Tristan looked back.  
  
"Don't worry, Yug', we'll get you just as soon as we open this door," Tristan assured him.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Tristan and Bakura attempted to open the window, but in vain. The window wouldn't budge an inch. Fear and panic welled in their faces and they looked at Yugi for help.  
  
"I can't get up," said Yugi, "Maybe if you take something hard and slam it against the window, it'll open."  
  
"Good idea," said Bakura, looking around the room, "We can use that." He pointed to the small dollhouse in the corner.  
  
Tristan reluctantly brushed the spiderwebs off of the doll house and picked it up with Bakura's help. Together, they flung the doll house into the window, smashing the it into countless glass shards.  
  
"Alright, it worked!" exclaimed Tristan.  
  
"How do you do?" asked Bakura with a sly grin.  
  
"I'm fine, how are you?" smiled Tristan.  
  
"Well," grinned Bakura, "I'm doing great. I love your outfit, Tristan. It really suits your personality."  
  
"Why, thankyou."  
  
"Guys, can we please get out of here? We're in a life and death situation," reminded Yugi.  
  
"Oh yeah," said Tristan, walking over to Yugi's bed.  
  
He picked up Yugi, careful not to damage his cut any further and walked back to the window. At that moment, the door burst open, revealing Joey and Kaiba, both holding scythes in either hand, their faces filled with crazed grins.  
  
"Heeere's Joey," Joey smiled, slowly walking toward the three.  
  
"Shit!" Tristan gasped, and looked out of the window. There was a wide ledge, about a foot in front of them. He set Yugi on the ledge and waited for Bakura to climb out after Yugi. All the while, Kaiba and Joey inched closer to Tristan.  
  
"There's only one way we're getting out of here," Tristan told himself, "And that's going to be if I let them kill me now. That should give Yugi and Bakura enough time to get out of here. It's the only way..." He looked back at Bakura and Yugi. "You guys hurry! I'll hold them off." He turned to face Seto and Joey.  
  
"Tristan, no!" Yugi shouted, "We can't just leave you."  
  
"Either I die, or we all die."  
  
"He's right," Bakura admitted, "We have to go now."  
  
Yugi shook his head, but allowed Bakura to pick him up with an effort and carry him across the the ledge. Behind them, they could hear a long scream of pain...then silence.  
  
The night was ending soon, and a dark shade of blue began to fill the sky. The shrill of birds could be heard from every which where, and Yugi prayed for the sun to rise. Just then, Seto and Joey climbed onto the window ledge at headed toward Yugi and Bakura at full speed.  
  
'We're not going to make it,' thought Yugi as Seto rushed toward them.  
  
Seto held his scythe up in the air, and began to bring it down, it was only inches away from Bakura's head. Yugi shut his eyes and prepared for the worst.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The next chappy will probably be the grand finale. Hmmm...there'll be a lot of explaining to do next time...please review! I'll be giving out Tristan plushies next time. 


	7. The Finale

Alrighty, well urm, I got one review from last time. Okie-dokie...*on the verge of crying*. Hrrmm.well, here's your Tristan plushie, Toki. *throws Toki a brutally abused Tristan plushie* It's dead. Anyways, this is the last chappy, so have fun reading it.^^  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Bakura's eyes slammed shut as his heart beat a hundred miles a second. Small droplets of sweat trickled down his forehead as a sharp whirring sounded. He could feel the presence of the scythe inches away and a rush of terror washed over as his life passed before him. A few seconds passed, but ,strangely, nothing happened. Bakura peered over his shoulder to see that behind him stood only thin air.  
  
"Huh?" a befudled Bakura gasped.  
  
"What happened?" Yugi asked, knowing neither of them knew the answer.  
  
"I-I'm not sure. It's like they were never there."  
  
A few moments of awkward silence filled the air before Yugi cleared his throat.  
  
"We've got to get out of here," a strong aura filled Yugi's voice as he struggled to stand up.  
  
"True," Bakura agreed, steadying Yugi with his hands.  
  
The two carefully made their way back toward the window, shielding their eyes from the new golden sunset glistening in their eyes.  
  
They had survived the night. But at what cost? They had lost the rest of their friends, they were the only two left. Never again would they be able to see or speak to the others. And how would they explain this to everyone else when they got home? Yugi forced these thoughts out of his mind and entered the room after Bakura.  
  
They walked slowly through the house, down the stairs, and into the living room in utter silence, staring only at the floor, their minds blank. Both felt hot tears welling up in their eyes as they walked, but blinked them away. They looked up once they reached the living room to collect their belongings, but a sudden shock filled them. A warm comforting shock that made them want to shed tears of joy and sent their heart pounding with happiness. Before Yugi and Bakura sat all of their friends staring with expressions of relief.  
  
"Y-yugi?" stuttered Joey. His mouth gaped wide open.  
  
Yugi's jaw dropped and he continued to stare unbelievingly at his friends.  
  
"Joey?" whispered Bakura, "Tristan, Tea?"  
  
"Joey!" Yugi yelled in a loud voice filled with relief.  
  
Yugi rushed toward Joey, embracing him tightly in his arms, then did the same with Tea and Tristan.  
  
"I'm so glad you all are alright," smiled Yugi.  
  
"Uhhh, why wouldn't we be?" Tristan questioned.  
  
"What on Earth do you mean 'why wouldn't we'?" Bakura exclaimed, "We thought you all died. Well, all of you but Joey. And Kaiba...where's Kaiba!?"  
  
"Kaiba?" Tea looked at the others, "I don't think Kaiba's here."  
  
"Bakura," Yugi said to his white haired friend, "I think we need to talk in the next room." He looked at the others. "We'll be back in a second." Yugi and Bakura walked out into the hall while Joey, Tristan and Tea gave each other peculiar glances.  
  
"Bakura," whispered Yugi, "What on Earth is going on?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Bakura said unsurely under his breath, "But I think I may have an idea as to what's happened." He waited for Yugi to give a quick nod before continuing. "Those people up there who we thought were our friends...maybe they weren't really them."  
  
"You're saying that what was happening this past night," Yugi said slowly, "Was an illusion?"  
  
"Or they could have been..." Bakura's voice trailed off.  
  
"Spirits," finished Yugi. He thought for a minute before asking, "But at what part of the evening could have they switched places with the real Joey, Tristan and Tea?"  
  
"Remember when we were in the dining room and the lights flashed out?"  
  
"It must've been some kind of an illusion."  
  
"Is it that, or are they all just playing a joke on us?"  
  
"I guess...I guess we'll never know, will we?"  
  
"I guess not."  
  
Yugi and Bakura gave eachother mischevious grins and decided to head back to the living room. They both received concerned smiles from Joey, Tristan and Tea.  
  
"Are you two alright?" Joey asked, "We've been lookin' for ya'll everywhere tonight, by the way."  
  
Yugi and Bakura smiled at eachother.  
  
"We've been looking for you guys also," said Yugi.  
  
"Well," announced Tea, standing up, "The night's over and I think it's time for Joey to hand over the money he promised."  
  
"Eheheh," chuckled Joey and he backed away in his seat, "The, uh, money?"  
  
"Yes," frowned Tea with a devilish glare, "Where is it?"  
  
"Well, see, I~"  
  
"You don't have it, do you?" Tristan said dryly.  
  
"M-maybe..."  
  
"I can't believe this!" exclaimed Tea with a frustrated groan, "Well I shouldn't have believed it in the first place. I mean, Joey's always like this. He's always making up fibs and~"  
  
"Tea," Yugi interrupted. "Give it a rest, will you?"  
  
"Oh ho ho!" Tristan grinned, "You tell her, Yug'."  
  
"Thanks, Tristan," Yugi smiled. He scanned the room, looking at all of his friends, thankful that they were all with him. "Let's go home now."  
  
Yugi and his friends made their way out of the castle and out into the barren, once-thriving meadow surrounding it. They left without speaking while different thoughts rolled in their heads. Yugi stopped abruptly and looked back up wonderingly at the mansion. As he stared at one of the windows, he could have sworn he caught a glimpse of the pale face of a woman with short orange hair staring back down at him.  
  
'Nami,' Yugi thought.  
  
He looked away, and continued to walk with his friends, grateful that they were now all together, and would be for as long as the Gods saw fit.  
  
THE END  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, there you have it! The end. And what a soggy ending it is. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it because I've had a really fun time writing it up. Please review and tell me your final thoughts.  
  
Atonohou! -^_________________^- 


End file.
